In Sickness and In Health
by SweetAmbrosia94
Summary: Melinda Finster is only mentioned a few times throughout the course of the Rugrats, and we are never told what it is she died from...and what if it's genetic? This is my little take on one of the mysteries found in the Rugrats. It takes place about a year after the last episode of All Grown Up!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **So in case you can't tell, this is my very first fanfiction, but I have had this story in my mind for a long time and I only just found a way to be able to put my thoughts into a format that makes sense. I hope you enjoy it!

**Disclaimer:** All rights of the Rugrats and All Grown Up! belong to Klasky Csupo and Nickelodeon. I own absolutely nothing but my story.

* * *

_Bang, bang, bang. _For the sixth time that morning, the incessant pounding of his sister's fist upon his door broke through his halfway between dreaming and waking state of mind to remind him, yet again, that he was going to be late for school.

"Chuckie, come on! Dad says you have to get up, and you've already missed breakfast."

Kimi audibly sighed from behind the door and, after waiting for a few seconds without receiving a response, she walked away from his door and down the stairs, muttering under her breath. Chuckie, having finally removed the pillow from his head, caught a few words; something about a lazy, spoiled boy who would be helpless without her. He smiled at his sister's bad mood, and, upon glancing at the clock, jumped out of bed, suddenly wide awake. He didn't even have time for a shower. Cursing his recent laziness in the morning, he threw on an outfit at random, went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and his hair (not that it made much of a difference) and hurried downstairs, a little out of breath.

"Hey dad", he said, looking over at his dad while he bent to put on his shoes, somehow managing to trip in the process.

Chaz stood above him, a small smile playing at his lips. "Good morning, son," he replied, extending a hand to help Chuckie up. Unfortunately, since the clumsy gene came from the Finster side of the family, the older man lost the grip he had on his son's hand and ended up on the ground as well. Chuckie met his dad's eyes, and they both started to laugh at what seemed to be a common occurrence at the Finster household.

"Kimi already leave?" Chuckie asked as, having finally made it to his feet, he was helping his dad up.

"Yeah, a couple of minutes ago, and you missed breakfast." Chaz lightly chided his son, brushing off his clothes.

"It's alright, I wasn't hungry anyway," Chuckie said, making his way to the door.

Chaz frowned slightly, surprised at this statement. Since Chuckie's thirteenth birthday, Chaz and Kira had had to buy groceries more and more constantly, as the boy had been eating them practically out of house and home.

Eyes suddenly widening, Chaz called out to his son, who was halfway out the door by now, saying "Well, don't forget your lunch!"

Chuckie ran back to the kitchen to grab his bagged lunch, directing a small thank you and a sheepish smile toward his father before running out of the house to catch the bus that was just shuddering to a halt at the bus stop down the block.

Chaz watched through the window and smiled as he saw Chuckie _just _make it onto the bus, tripping up the stairs. He shook his head slightly, smiling, as he thought to himself, 'Some things never change.'

* * *

Lunchtime rolled around, finding Tommy, Kimi, Phil, and Lil seated at their usual table in the lunchroom. They were listening to Lil talk about her frustrating experience during the morning announcements.

"So after the new guy basically told me I had to 'wing it'", she said, adding finger quotations to emphasize her point, " because apparently it was too hard for him to actually do his job and make sure he had all of the announcements ready to go for me to be able to read them off, he had the nerve to come up to me after the fact and tell me that my voice wasn't _friendly _enough, and that I should work on being more of a people person." She dunked a piece of her popcorn chicken (or at least, that's what the menu _said_ it was supposed to be) and stuffed it in her mouth, chewing furiously for a few seconds before swallowing and adding "I mean, can you believe it? _Me_ not a people person? Are you kidding me?"

Her friends muttered in a sort of half-hearted agreement, paying more attention to their food than to what Lil was saying. It was then that Chuckie decided to show up, having been held up at his locker by a heartbroken Pangborn.

"Hi guys," he said, tripping into his seat as usual, his lunch hitting the table with a thud.

"Hey, C-man," said Tommy, grateful for the distraction.

"Where's Dil?" the red-headed boy asked, looking around.

"I dunno," said Tommy with a shrug.

"He's probably in the science room asking for diet advice from the class skeleton again," said Phil with a snicker, and they all giggled at the strange behavior of the youngest Pickles boy.

"I heard that," said Dil, coming up from behind Tommy, "and you laugh, but Gertrude has some pretty good advice for keeping my figure." He sat down next to Chuckie.

"Dude, you've been eating nothing but liver and asparagus for the past three weeks." Tommy said to his little brother. "Mom's sick of the smell and refuses to cook anymore without wearing a nose plug." Dil just shrugged as the older kids made fun of him.

"How did you talk to the skele- er,sorry, _Gertrude_, anyway?" asked a curious Kimi.

"Telekinesis," stated the boy simply. _Duh, _his tone seemed to imply.

Chuckie was only half listening to the exchange going on at his table. He was finding it harder and harder to breathe when all of a sudden, he was overwhelmed with a coughing fit, the wet, painful sounds of it making his friends stop what they were doing stare at him.

"Are you okay, Chuckie?" asked Lil, concern in her eyes. Chuckie nodded, but immediately regretted doing so, as he was overcome with dizzyness. He laid his head on the table, groaning softly. Kimi, who was on his other side, put a comforting hand on his back, but didn't quite know what to say. She looked to the others for some help.

"Are you coming down with something, Chuck?" asked Tommy in a sort of soothing voice. Chuckie mumbled somthing that sounded like 'I don't know', and groaned again. With his friends not quite sure what to say, the table was quiet for a minute or two, and then Chuckie lifted his head. He took a deep breath (well, as deep as he could manage with all of his sinus issues going on), and offered up a weak smile.

"I'm okay. It might be a cold, but I'm pretty sure it's just that my allergies are worse, so my throat and lungs are a bit irritated," Chuckie explained. This seemed to be enough for Phil and Tommy, but Kimi and Lil still looked concerned. Lil elbowed Tommy, who was to her left, making him grunt and he looked up in annoyance until he met Kimi's glare. Getting the message, Tommy took a deep breath. but before he could say anything, Dil cut in.

"Well, if you are sick, stay away from me," he exclaimed, leaning away from Chuckie. "I had a dream last night where the aliens came and took me to their planet, which has to be a sign, and I do NOT want to be sick when it happens. After all, if you bring an earth disease-"

"Dil, STOP!," Tommy commanded with a pointed look at Chuckie, who was again resting his head on the table. "Oh...sorry dude," said Dil, but Chuckie seemed more focused on breathing in and out than on what Dil was saying. It was then that Tommy stood up, making a decision. "Come on, Chuckie, we're going to the nurse's office, and you're going home." Chuckie would have argued, but he knew it was no use, because once Tommy Pickles made up his mind, there was no negotiating, so he allowed himself to be led up out of his seat, across the lunchroom, and down the hallway.

The nurse was really nice as she listened to Tommy's explanation of what had happened, while Chuckie sort of absentmindedly made his way to a cot, where he sat down. The dizzyness had subsided somewhat, but he was still finding it hard to breathe and he was a bit nauseous. He was staring at the floor when the nurse came over to him and placed a cool, comforting hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay sweetie?" she asked, with kindness in her eyes and a small smile. When he didn't answer, she gave a small frown and placed a hand on his forehead, jerking it away when she discovered that he was burning up. Taking her thermometer out of her pocket, she took his temperature: 101 degrees. Crossing the room, the young nurse picked up her student directory and began searching for Mrs. Finster's number, forgetting that Tommy was in the room. He cleared his throat and she jumped a little, startled.

"If you need any numbers, Chuckie has his cell phone on him," he said helpfully, a small smile on his face. Nodding, the woman took his words into consideration, and within a few minutes Kira was on her way to pick up her son.

* * *

"And, there," said Kira, straightening up after fluffing her son's pillows. "Now you should be nice and cozy. I'm going to call your father, and then I'll be right back." She planted a kiss on her adoptive son's forehead, and then made her way out of the living room, where she had set up a little bed on the couch for him.

Chuckie sighed as his mother walked out of the room. She really did spoil him when he was sick. He laid there for a couple of minutes, the blanket pulled up to his chin as he savored the quiet that only comes from being at home when everyone else was at school. Kira came back a couple of minutes later and sat on the edge of the couch by his feet, taking note of the fact that even though he was going through a growth spurt, he still wasn't quite tall enough to take up the entire last cushion. "When I picked you up, Tommy said you hadn't eaten anything. Do you want me to make something? Soup or a sandwich, maybe?" She looked really concerned, and Chuckie knew that she would have made him something even if he told her not to, so he smiled and said that soup sounded just fine.

When she left, he realized that he was really quite thirsty, but he didn't want to call her back in here, so he got up and started to cross the room. As he did so, he was once again seized with a major coughing fit. Hearing noise coming from the living room, Kira dropped what she was doing and rushed to where her son was. She found him on his hands and knees on the floor.

"Chuckie, are you okay?" she asked, going to his side. Chuckie lifted his eyes to hers, a blank look on his face, before the strength left his muscles, and Chuckie fell onto his side, unconscious.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** This was a difficult chapter for me to write, so I hope you like it!

**Disclaimer:** The Rugrats and AGU! belong to Klasky Csupo. I own nothing.

* * *

Chapter 2

Kimi sat on the couch in the waiting room, flipping through channels at random, until she finally threw the remote control down onto the couch in frustration. She had been called out of school after Chuckie collapsed, and, since her parents were in a meeting with the doctor, had been picked up by Didi and brought to the hospital.

"What's going on?" she had asked the older woman, when she had stepped into the vehicle and buckled up. All the office had told her was that she was being picked up by a family friend and that she wouldn't be returning that day. Didi, who usually felt the need to make everything better when it came to the children, simply bit her lip. She wasn't sure just how much to say since she didn't want to upset Kimi, but at the same time, Kimi had a right to know. Oh, where was Lipschitz when you needed him? She tightened her grip on the steering wheel, took a deep breath, and said cautiously, "It's Chuckie. About an hour after your mother picked him up from school, he passed out and was taken to the hospital by ambulance because he wasn't breathing." Seeing the look of shock on the young girl's face, she quickly added, "It's alright. They were able to stabilize him, but they still don't quite know what's going on." This only just seemed to satisfy the girl as she sank back into her seat, but Didi had known her long enough to realize when she was worried. Not knowing what else to say, Didi had just pulled into the hospital parking lot and walked Kimi to the right waiting room. She couldn't stay, since she had her own family to go back to and inform, but she gave Kimi a tight squeeze before she left.

Kimi longed for Didi's company as she got up from the couch and went over to look out of the hospital window. There was no one in the waiting room with her to talk with and give her a temporary escape from this awful waiting. There was no end to the questions running through her head, which were, as time went on, each more terrible than the last. One question stood out from all of the rest, though.

_'He's going to be okay, right?'_

* * *

_'He's going to be okay, right?'_

The thought echoed through Kira's head as she sat in the doctor's office next to her husband, waiting for the doctor to come in with the news. The last thing he had come in to tell them was that Chuckie was breathing normally again, but they were still waiting on test results to come in to be able to figure out what was wrong with him. Kira shifted yet again in her uncomfortable chair, and Chaz reached over to give her hand a small squeeze before once again retreating into his head. She knew this was hard on him, and yet, she found herself pushing aside those thoughts to think about Kimi instead. She just would_ not_ believe that this was something big. It couldn't be...Could it?

Fortunately, she didn't have to wait much longer to find out. Both she and Chaz sat up straighter as Dr. Avery walked into the room and sighed as he sat down behind his desk. Not one to beat around the bush, he cut right to the chase.

"Mr. and Mrs. Finster, your son came to us in a strange state. After we were able to get him breathing again, one of the first things I had done was to X-ray his lungs as a starting point of sorts. What my technician found is something that has been seen only once before in this hospital." He stopped here with a pointed look at Chaz, who had gone white as a sheet.

"Melinda..."he breathed.

Giving the man as close to a sympathetic look as he could muster, Dr. Avery continued. "That is correct. Chuckie showed the same deterioration of the lungs as your first wife."

Looking back and forth between the doctor and Chaz, Kira felt out of the loop. When they had started dating, Chaz had revealed to her that his first wife, Melinda, had passed away when Chuckie was just a few months old, and over the years, Chaz had opened up to her little by little about what she had been like. However, he never did explain what she had died from in detail, just that it was an extremely rare disease, and Kira had left it at that. She could tell that it was still really hard for him to talk about Melinda. But right now, she needed to know exactly what was going on. This time, whatever had killed Melinda was affecting her son.

"What do you mean?" Kira demanded, determined to get an answer. "What's going on with Chuckie?"

"What I mean," Dr. Avery said, reaching for the folder containing Chuckie's information and pulling out his X-ray, "is that Chuckie has the same disease his mother had. It's called AAT deficiency, but that's kind of a blanket term, as it's different for everyone who has it. Basically, it's what happens when your body doesn't make enough AAT, which is a protein in your blood that protects against the harmful enzymes carried in white blood cells. White blood cells are made to protect and heal your body, but if not controlled, the same enzymes that do your body good can also attack the healthy cells in your body. That's where AAT comes in. It counteracts the effects of those enzymes, keeping your body in balance. However, people with AAT deficiency don't have the ability to protect thier healthy tissue from those enzymes, which causes major problem, especially in the lungs, which are very delicate. Now, as I said, it's different for everyone who has it. Most people who have it are able to treat it early, making it so that the effects don't come until later in life, where emphysema develops. However, there are cases, such as Melinda's, where it causes severe lung disease. In Melinda's case, we caught it when she was in her teens, and we were treating her for it, but the fact that her parents were smokers had already caused damage in her lungs. It caught up with her, and there was nothing else we were able to do for her. Now for Chuckie, the fact that he already has asthma does not bode well for him. As you can see," he pointed to the frighteningly thin membrane around the lungs, "there has already been severe damage to his lungs."

Kira sat in stunned silence for a moment, before her mind caught up with her. She had several questions for the doctor, but a few took precedence over the rest. Meanwhile, Chaz sat with his head in his hands, face white as a ghost. Kira had to make up for her husband's lack of enthusiasm, so she cleared her throat and asked, "How did Chuckie get this...disease?"

"AAT is a very rare disease, with only about 600,000 people in the U.S being diagnosed with it. It's genetic, but it has to come from both parents. Since Melinda had it, Chuckie would already have been a carrier, but we did not think about the fact that Chaz may have also been a carrier for it."

"And why not?" Kira demanded.

"Mrs. Finster, when Melinda was diagnosed, all we knew about this disease was that it affected the lungs. By the time she died, the research was just beginning to reveal more about it, and what we were focused on was not so much the cause , but the treatment. We didn't know that it was genetic, and by the time we did, Chuckie would have been around 5 years old. There is only one way to test for AAT deficiency, so you can only find it if you are looking, and until now, we haven't considered the possibility that Chuckie might have it."

Kira was still angry at the fact that they hadn't caught this sooner, as they should have, but one other question was burning in her mind and needed to be asked.

"Is my son going to be alright?" The words were hard to get out, as her throat had suddenly gotten dry, but she kept eye contact with the doctor all the same.

Giving yet another sympathetic look, Dr. Avery once again picked up the X-ray. "As I've mentioned, Chuckie already has severe damage to his lungs. The treatments we do have available are for people who are tested for it earlier."

The world seemed to suddenly spin, but Kira refused to accept what he was saying. Calling up her anger from a couple of minutes ago, she took a deep breath and asked, "And just what is that supposed to mean?"

The next words that came out of the doctor's mouth brought her world to a crashing halt.

"It means that there is nothing more we can do for him. I'm sorry, but Chuckie isn't going to live much longer."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Finally, this chapter is up. It's been forever since I last posted and I've been feeling really guilty about it. In my defense, though, I have been really busy with school work, and I was also hit with a bad case of writer's block. Not much of an excuse, but it's all I've got. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I will try to update again as soon as possible.

**Disclaimer: All rights to the Rugrats and All Grown Up! belong to Klasky Csupo. I own nothing.**

* * *

Chapter 3

Staring into the bathroom mirror, Chaz wiped off the rest of the water that he had splashed on his face with a paper towel. He couldn't stand sitting in that room anymore, so he had excused himself right after the doctor's last statement, ignoring the look Kira had given him. It didn't matter anyway. He just couldn't take the tension anymore.

His reflection stared back at him, pale- ghostly, even- and the thoughts he had been trying to repress during the meeting with the doctor came to him now. Melinda, smiling for their wedding photo, laughing at him for being so nervous to kiss her in front of his family. Melinda, standing in the doorway of their new home, a not-so-subtle baby bump peeking out from under her coat. Melinda, asleep in the hospital bed, a day-old Chuckie happily gurgling in the hospital bassinet.

Then...

Melinda, collapsing in the garden after a coughing fit. Melinda, laying in the hospital bed, oxygen tubes in her nose, smiling and acting like an angel for their baby, despite the pain he knew she was feeling. Melinda, holding a tiny Chuckie in her arms as she read him the poem she had written...

There was a faint knocking at the door, followed by a soft "Chaz, are you alright?" It was Kira.

"Just a minute," he called out hoarsely, fiercely rubbing his eyes. He would _not _let her see him cry right now. She already thought he was weak, he knew she did. All of the questions she had been asking made him sure of it; she was trying to be the hero. And maybe she wasn't wrong about that. But right now, he couldn't be weak. Right now, for his family, he needed to be strong. For Chuckie, he needed to be strong.

Chuckie, who had seemed perfectly fine just that morning when he left for school...

His shoulders shook as he leaned his back against the wall, and slid down to the floor. _This can't be happening to me, _he thought. _Not again..._

* * *

The whiteness in his hospital room was really starting to get to him. Chuckie sat up and scanned the room, squinting.

"Looking for these?" asked a voice. His glasses were pressed into his and he put them on.

"Kimi!" he exclaimed. It felt really good to see her right now. He had been laying there for awhile, the pain in his chest (that he had been having for the last couple of weeks, but hadn't said anything because he didn't want to worry anyone) having woke him up. He was in the hospital, not knowing what was going on, and it was good to see a familiar face.

Smirking at his enthusiasm, Kimi sat down on the edge of his bed. Looking at the time on the box beneath the tv, Chuckie noticed it was only 3:10; school had just gotten over. "What are you doing here?" he asked. Kimi smirked again.

"Mom called me out and Didi came to get me during 5th hour. By the way, you got me out of english with your fainting episode. Thanks," she said, high-fiving him. They grinned at each other until Kimi sighed and looked away. The good feeling she had brought to the room suddenly left and Chuckie sat in his hospital gown, shivering a bit. Why was it always so cold in hospitals?

"So what's going on with you?" Kimi asked, her voice soft.

"If I knew, I'd tell you," Chuckie told her, half-jokingly. He stopped when she didn't smile and sighed.

"I've been feeling a little weird for awhile," he admitted.

"So why didn't you say anything?" There was worry in Kimi's eyes.

"I don't know, I just," Chuckie sighed again and ran his fingers through his tangled hair. "I didn't think it was anything other than allergies. It is fall, after all, and I always get sick and miserable this time of year. The only thing that's really been off is the fact that I've been sleeping more and more." _Not to mention this stupid chest pain, _he looked up at his sister and shrugged. "I'm sorry," he added, when he saw that she was still worrying about him. She scooted closer to him on the bed, till they were right next to each other, and grabbed his hand.

"Did the doctors say anything?" she asked.

"When I woke up, the only person in the room was this really old nurse, and all she said was that I had stopped breathing for awhile. I haven't even seen mom or dad." He looked up at her suddenly. "How are they?"

"No idea," said Kimi, shaking her head. "When I got here, they were already in a meeting with the doctor."

"I wonder if they know what's going on," he thought out loud. "Dad's probably freaked out," he said and Kimi smiled but said nothing. They sat in silence for awhile.

Finally, there was a light tap at the door and Kira stepped into the room. "Mom," exclaimed Kimi, jumping off of the bed and running into her mother's arms. They hugged and Kira walked over to the bed to hug Chuckie.

"How are you feeling?" she asked softly, pushing his hair away from his face.

"I feel fine right now," he said, and she smiled at him. It was then that he noticed the redness around her eyes.

"Mom, were you crying?" he asked slowly. When she didn't answer and only sat on the bed where Kimi had been, he got a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"Where's dad?" Kimi asked, hovering around the doorway.

"He will be here soon," she said, and sure enough, a few seconds later he walked into the doorway.

Chaz looked even worse than Kira as he made his way over to Chuckie's bed. His eyes were redder than normal and his lips were trembling a bit at the corners, but even so, Chaz tried to smile as he looked down at his son.

"How are you?" he asked softly, his smile all but slipping.

Chuckie suddenly found his parents behavior overwhelming. He knew something was wrong with him, they wouldn't be acting like this if there wasn't. He couldn't take this anymore. He was tired, his chest hurt, and he just wanted someone to get to the point, instead of skating around the subject and staring at him like he was about to keel over any second. It was for this reason that he suddenly burst out, "Will somebody just please tell me what's going on already?"

He regretted it instantly as Kimi gasped and his parents looked at each other, shocked. Then Kira seemed to regain her composure and she stood up, taking Kimi's hand into her own. "Come on, Kimi. Let's leave the boys alone."

"What!?" Kimi exclaimed in protest. She yanked her hand from her mother's. "But I want to know what's going on, too!" She had crossed her arms and squared her shoulders in determination. "I am NOT leaving!"

Kira sighed. "Kimi, I promise, you will know what's going on. Just, right now, I need you to come with me, okay? Please," she pleaded with her daughter. This wasn't the kind of thing Kira and Kimi should be involved in. This was one of the few times where their families were seperated into the Finsters and the Watanabes, and Chaz didn't need the extra pressure of Kimi being there when he talked about his first wife.

Kimi noticed that Kira's eyes had filled with tears, and she decided to go with her mom after all. She uncrossed her arms and took a step towards the door.

And stopped.

She turned and ran back to her brother's bed and wrapped him in a hug before he could react, and she smiled when he gasped in surprise. His face when red when she pulled away. "Be right back, okay?" He nodded ruffled his hair before turning away and running towards the door. Kira followed after her and glancedback at Chuckie one more time before she closed the door.

Chuckie watched them leave, and then turned back to his dad, only to find the older man's eyes staring into his own. This, more than anything else, helped Chuckie to see that something was really, really wrong. Chaz was a very timid person and eye contact did not come easily to him. Steeling himself, Chuckie waited for the news. But what Chaz said next completely caught him off guard.

"You know, you remind me so much of your mother." Chuckie just stared at him. Seeing his son's confusion, Chaz smiled. "Well, you do. You're just like her. You look like me, but you've got her brains, her sense of humor, her determination when it comes to helping out your friends..."

Chuckie was confused. Since Kimi and Kira had come into the picture, Chaz almost never mentioned Melinda. "Um...dad? What do you...I mean, why..." Chuckie couldn't do anything but stutter.

Chaz sighed and looked down at his hands. When he looked back at his son, his smile was gone and there was pain in his eyes. "I guess I'm not making much sense. I'll start from the beginning."

And Chaz sat on the edge of the hospital bed and told Chuckie the whole story, starting with Melinda and what she had had to go through, what they had had to go through together. He told him everything the doctor had said, what to expect with AAT defiency, and what they were going to do to help him not be afraid. He even let Chuckie know that they probably wouldn't have much time left to be together, because he refused to have any secrets. Chuckie needed to know exactly what to expect.

And then, he was silent as he held his son. He rocked him back and forth as his son cried, and he felt tears stream down his face, too. They sat there together, weeping quietly, as the sun outside the window slowly crept towards the horizon, unaware of the fact that in another room down the hall, Kira and Kimi were doing the same thing. And as he held his son in his arms, Chaz came to one conclusion:

He was going to be strong for his family. They were going to get through this together, as a family. He would make sure that the rest of Chuckie's life would be happy. And then, when the time came, and Chuckie was taken from him...

Even then, he would be strong.

This disease had stolen someone from him once before, and he had been a complete mess. Now, though, he was going to be strong. He wouldn't let this reduce him to the nervous wreck he had been before. _I can't afford to be weak this time, _he thought to himself, _I just can't._


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **First, I just want to say, thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed this story. It really means a lot, and not only do your nice words make me smile, but they are what encourage me to keep writing. For the people who have private messaged me (you know who you are) about keeping this story going, and also for ideas about new stories, thank you as well. I love hearing your input.

Here's chapter 4. It's quite a bit longer than my other chapters, and I worked really hard on it, so I hope you enjoy it!

**Disclaimer:** All rights of the Rugrats and All Grown Up! belong to Klasky-Csupo and Nickelodeon. I own nothing.

* * *

Chapter 4

Ring, ring, ring.

"Hello?...Yes it's ready…His room, too…And the dishes…Okay…Will you guys be here soon?...Okay, well, see you soon then…Bye, mom." Kimi hung up the phone and looked around, double checking to make sure she had everything clean like she was supposed to.

Chuckie was coming home from the hospital today, and everything had to be perfect. The whole house was thoroughly cleaned and they had had to buy an air purifier for every room, all so Chuckie could stay there without anything to irritate his lungs. It had taken a couple days, and most of the work had fallen on Kimi, since her parents were taking shifts staying at the hospital with Chuckie while the other one went home to get some sleep and shower, but everything was finally ready.

Kimi plopped herself down onto the couch to wait for them. Her mom had said they would be about a half hour, since they still had to check Chuckie out of his room and go to the pharmacy to pick up his pain medication. It had been quickly decided that that he would need the meds as the condition of his lungs decreased. Plus the fact that they had finally gotten him to admit that his chest had been bothering him for awhile, meaning he was in worse condition than the doctor had originally thought.

Bored, Kimi turned on the tv, but couldn't make herself concentrate. It had been three days since Chuckie had collapsed and they had learned of his condition. Kimi had been allowed to get out of school, but most of that time had been devoted to cleaning, and Kimi hadn't seen her brother for more than minutes at a time.

She was worried about him. More than worried, she was terrified that she was going to lose him. They had been almost inseparable ever since they met in Paris as babies. They did everything together, and maybe they didn't always get along, but their relationship was better than a lot of siblings they knew. Chuckie told her everything, he stood up for her, and maybe his protection was a bit misguided at times, but he tried. He was her brother, she loved him, and she didn't want to lose him. _I can't believe this is happening,_ she thought to herself for the hundredth time since That Day, which was what she had taken to calling the day that her life had changed forever.

The phone rang, and Kimi ran to answer it, thankful for the interruption from her thoughts. She had spent way too much time alone in the past few days and her thoughts were darker than they should be, even giving the circumstances.

"Hello?" she said into the mouthpiece.

"Hey, Kimi. Are they home yet?" It was Tommy. Her cheeks colored slightly at the sound of his voice, and she was glad they were talking over the phone.

"No, not yet. Mom said about 30 minutes, but I wouldn't take that too seriously. Dad called this morning, and according to him, it's pretty busy up there today."

"Well, it is a Saturday," Tommy replied. "Hey, how is he?" He said suddenly. "Chuckie, I mean."

"I kinda figured that's who you meant," said Kimi with a small smile, "but like I said yesterday, I don't know." Tommy, Phil, Lil, and Susie had been checking in with her constantly since That Day, hoping for updates that she couldn't give, since she was almost as much in the dark as the rest of them. Besides Tommy, though, only Lil seemed to check in about every two hours, where Phil called mostly at night, and Susie only about 3 times a day. "I saw him for about 5 minutes yesterday, and mom was in the room, so it's not like we could talk. You know how he is when he doesn't want to-"

"Worry anyone," Tommy finished with her, and she could hear the smirk in his voice. "Yeah, I know."

"Especially with mom, though," said Kimi. "I don't think you realize just how much he hides from her. Like, the night before last, I was up there, and it was just us and mom. And he was acting completely fine. But then, the doctor came to talk to mom about his meds, and she left the room, and Chuckie stopped acting. He just sort of slumped into his bed, looking exhausted, and you could tell he was in pain. He wouldn't talk about it, though, and when mom came in, he sat up and acted like nothing happened."

"That sounds like him," said Tommy, but he wasn't joking anymore. There was a pause, and then he asked "So, how are you?"

Kimi's eyes widened in surprise. No one had really talked to her unless it was about Chuckie, and they certainly hadn't asked how she was taking things. She struggled to find her voice and finally replied "Fine, I guess." She was trying to sound normal, but she didn't even sound convincing to herself.

"Kimi." Tommy's voice was stern.

"Yeah?" she said with a sigh.

"How are you really?" He was genuinely concerned, and hearing the kindness in his voice almost sent her over the edge.

"I don't know," she lied, her voice cracking. Of course she knew, she just didn't want to admit it. But Tommy didn't speak, and she knew he was waiting for a real answer, so she started again. "I guess...I'm just...scared. All the time. He's sick, Tommy." The words suddenly started to pour out of her. "He's my brother, and he's sick, and he's d-dying, and there's nothing I can-...I mean, I can't even-" she broke off with a sob. She was panicking again, like she did at night when these thoughts came to her and there was no one for her to talk to. Her parents had all but forgotten her in the whirlwind of worry their lives had become overnight, but even if they were home at night and she could talk to them, she wouldn't. Not about this. They had enough on their plates and were worried enough about their son to without having to deal with her, too. Kimi stood there, sobbing, the phone still to her ear, lost in these thoughts.

"Kimi? Kimi! Kimi, answer me!" Tommy was on the other end, trying to get her attention. "Kimi? Kimi!"

Kimi finally noticed that he was talking to her. "Yes?" she asked softly, sniffling and hiccuping.

"Listen to me, okay? It's going to be alright." There was confidence in Tommy's tone, but if Kimi had been listening close, she would have heard the fear in his voice as well.

"How do you know, Tommy?" Kimi asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "How do you know?"

"I-Well I...I mean," The question had caught him off guard. He tried again. "I mean, it has to be, right? Things are supposed to happen for a reason, aren't they? It's what we've always been told, so it has to be true, doesn't it?" Tommy was grasping for straws, all confidence he had pretended to have gone.

Kimi smile ruefully. Those were the same things she had been telling herself since this whole thing had begun. The only thing that helped her sleep at night. "I suppose so," she said softly.

There was a pause and neither of them knew what to say. They were both in the same boat. Chuckie was Kimi's brother, but Tommy was his best friend, and had known him longer. Neither of them could imagine their lives without the red-haired boy.

Tommy cleared his throat and said "Listen, I'm going to go now. I'll be over tonight for dinner." Everyone- the Pickles, including Charlotte, Drew, and Angelica, the DeVilles, and the Carmicheals- would be getting together later that night for dinner. It was what they did; when something goes wrong, they pull closer together.

"Yeah, I'll see you tonight." Kimi said, getting ready to put down the receiver.

"And hey, Kimi?" Tommy said suddenly.

"Yeah?"

"Everything IS going to be okay. Don't ask how I know, I just do." He spoke softly and quickly, as if trying not to get her angry or worse, make her cry like she had before. "It's going to be alright."

"Thank you," Kimi said, and, without another word, put down the phone. There was nothing left to say right now and they both knew it.

* * *

About 30 minutes after the rest of her family got home, things were finally settling down. Her parents had been running every which way, fussing over Chuckie, getting him random items, and putting everything they had gotten from the hospital away. There were his pain meds, various water bottles and teddy bears people had called in and had sent to him from the gift shop (since no one but immediate family had been allowed to see him), and his oxygen tank that he was to use when he was sleeping so that he could breathe easier. Kimi had been pushed to the side-not on purpose, everyone was just busy- and she hadn't been able to talk to Chuckie with all the madness that was going on. Finally, when Chuckie had claimed to be tired and went to relax in his room for the first time in days, Kimi took her chance.

Having knocked and been told to enter, Kimi walked into her brother's room. Chuckie sitting on his bed, looking a little pale, but altogether glad to be home. He smiled when she entered, and she couldn't help smiling back. "Hey, you," she said, walking across his room and settling herself into a bean bag.

"Hey," he said. He looked around his room and said, "You did a nice job cleaning this place."

Kimi laughed. "Yeah, well I'm not going to do it again, so keep it clean. You had clothes and random things all over the place. Your room was so messy, it's a wonder you didn't get sick before." It was meant to be a joke, and the words had sort of just slipped out without her thinking about it. But the damage was done.

Chuckie's face fell and he quickly looked down at his bed, suddenly appearing to find his bedspread very interesting.

"Chuckie, I'm sorry," Kimi said, and he looked up at her, smiling sadly.

"Me, too," he answered, so quietly she almost didn't catch it.

"Why are you sorry?" Kimi asked, confused.

Her brother sighed, trying to find the right words. "I mean, this can't have been easy for you."

"For me?" Kimi was stunned. "You mean you've been worried about me while you've been going through tests, and dealing with mom and dad, and everything?"

"Yes I have." said Chuckie. "I've been thinking about you a lot, all alone here, having to catch bits and pieces of updates and only when mom and dad decide they have the time to call you. You've had to deal with all the phone calls from our friends, you've had to do all of the cleaning to get this place ready for me-"

"It wasn't that bad," Kimi interrupted. "It took my mind off of what was going-"

"And," he said loudly, speaking over her, "you are probably the one who's going to have it the worst after-"

"Don't." Kimi said sharply. "Don't talk like that."

"Why not?" Chuckie demanded. "I've thought about that a lot, too. It's not fair that one day, and one day soon, according to the doctor, I'm just going to be gone. Not fair for me, but certainly not fair for you, and our parents, and our friends. And you're like the rock, in our family and among our friends. You know that people are going to come to you to talk."

"You're right," said Kimi. "It's not fair." She stared sadly at her brother as he got more and more worked up.

"And you know what the worst part about it is? It isn't the looks I've been getting from people who feel sorry for me. It isn't the pain I've been having that's getting worse every day. It isn't even having to see mom cry, although that is pretty bad. Do you know what the worst part is?"

Kimi shook her head.

"The worst part is that I can't do anything about it. I can tell people 'I'm fine', that 'it's going to be okay' until I'm blue in the face, it doesn't change the fact that I'm sick." Chuckie fell angrily back onto his pillows. "I mean, what did I do to deserve this?" He laid there, seething, and Kimi let him be mad at the world. She got up out of her beanbag and walked over to sit on his bed, grabbing his hand like she had at the hospital. She waited for him to calm down, and then she said "You know, everyone's been really worried about you."

"I know," said Chuckie sighing, his anger disappearing with her words. "It must be even worse for them right now than it is for you. I mean, at least you've been able to see me for a couple minutes here and there. The last time any of them saw me was at school."

Kimi nodded in agreement, knowing full well that it had killed Tommy and the others to not be able to see Chuckie since That Day. "Well, at least you'll get to see them tonight." she told him.

"There is that," said Chuckie. "But how much do you think we'll actually be able to talk, considering all the adults will be there?"

"I don't know," Kimi replied, shrugging. "But they will be able see that you're doing alright, and if you can't talk to them tonight, then they can stop by tomorrow or something."

Chuckie nodded and grasped his sister's hand tighter, his eyes closed. He was exhausted from all the activity from earlier, and from needing to constantly reassure his parents that he felt fine, even when he didn't.

"Are you falling asleep?" asked Kimi, smiling.

Chuckie shrugged a little. "Maybe," he said, with a smile of his own. He opened his eyes. "Stay with me, though?"

Kimi gave a grand sigh, smiling. "For a little while, I guess. If I have to," she teased. And she stayed with him long after he had fallen asleep, still grasping her hand. She stayed until her mom peeked in and, seeing that he was sleeping, told Kimi in a quiet voice that Didi, Stu, and their kids had arrived. Kimi nodded, gently unhooked her hand from Chuckie's, and followed her mom, stopping only to glance back at her brother's sleeping form before closing the door.

The first person she saw when she entered the living room was Tommy, who hadn't even taken off his coat yet. He looked at her anxiously and waited until she came and stood next to him before asking "How is he?"

"At the moment, asleep," she told him, "He won't admit it, but he's really wiped out from today. Too much activity." She wanted to tell Tommy what Chuckie had said to her upstairs. but the adults were listening in, and now just wasn't the time. So, instead, they talked about school and what she had missed. Soon, everyone else had arrived, and after she was finished reassuring them that Chuckie, at the moment, was fine, her mom called that dinner was done. A couple minutes later, they were all seated at the table, with everyone trying not to stare at the one empty chair. Kira looked around anxiously.

"Do you think I should wake him up?" she asked her husband. He considered for a moment and shook his head. "Let him sleep. He's had a long day."

"But everyone came tonight to see him," Kira argued.

"Kira, we didn't just come to see Chuckie," said Lucy Carmichael, soothingly. "We came to make sure everyone in this family is okay, and to see if there's anything we can do to help you."

"Besides," said Betty, "it doesn't look like you'll have to be waking anyone up, right Chuckie?"

Kira turned and noticed her son standing behind her chair. "Chuckie!" she exclaimed. "How are you feeling?"

Chuckie smiled. "Right now, a little hungry," he said, earning a smile from Kimi and Tommy, who were seated next to each other.

"Well, come sit down then," said Betty, and she pulled out the chair next to her. Chuckie sat down and found himself in between Betty and Lil, who smiled at him. He grinned back and turned his attention back to Betty, who had started serving him.

"And, mashed potatoes," Betty said, putting a heaping scoop on his plate and handing it to him. "Well, there you go Chuck. A healthy plate for a growing boy." Chuckie looked down at his plate and took in the sight. Next to the mashed potatoes, there seemed to be about three servings of green beans, two giant rolls, and he was sure what was the largest piece of chicken his mom had made. His stomach hurt at the very sight of it, but he smiled at Betty all the same.

It was a rather awkward dinner. Everyone seemed to be preoccupied with their food and with not staring at Chuckie. Only Didi, Lucy, and Charlotte seemed interested in keeping a conversation going, and Kira, being the main person they were talking to, had to time her bites perfectly, so that she could both eat and be able to answer their questions. Even Angelica was surprisingly quiet. Finally, when it looked like everyone was done, Kira had Kimi help her clear the table, (Chuckie, who wasn't really hungry at all and had come down so that he could be polite, had eaten only a couple of bites of his heaping plateful, and had just pushed the rest around was glad when this happened) everyone else made their way to the living room, where an extra tank of oxygen was still sitting. The topic could be avoided no longer. Surprisingly, Stu was the one who spoke up first.

"So, that tank right there..."

"Is for Chuckie to use at night when he's sleeping." said Chaz. "The doctor noticed while Chuckie was in the hospital that he seemed to have more trouble breathing at night, so he sent two of those home with us." Everyone listened intently to Chaz as he explained, and no one seemed to know what to say when he finished. There was silence for a moment, and then Kira, having finished clearing the table, entered with Kimi behind her, and sat down next to her husband.

"So, how have you been adjusting to being at home, Chuckie?" asked Lucy. Chuckie looked around and noticed everyone staring at him. "I've been adjusting fine, I guess. I was asleep for awhile, so..." he trailed off, not knowing what to say. Also, the ache in his chest, which seemed to get worse at night, had started to bother him, and he didn't feel much in the mood for talking. Seeming to sense this, Kimi spoke up.

"Maybe we should go upstairs," she said, indicating the kids. Kira seemed to be fine with that, and Kimi led the way to Chuckie's room. She and Chuckie sat on his bed, and the others found a place to sit, with the older two, Angelica and Susie, on chairs, and Tommy, Phil, Lil, and Dil on the floor.

"Hey, Kimi," said Chuckie, before anyone else could really say anything. "Do you think you could go get one of my pain pills from mom?" Kimi nodded and left. Knowing that Chuckie wouldn't have asked her to do that unless he was really hurting Tommy spoke up. "Not doing so hot, C-man?"

Chuckie nodded. Somehow, just being in his room with his friends (and Angelica), and not downstairs with the awkward conversation and staring adults, made him feel a bit better.

"Yeah, it's just this stupid chest pain. The pill should stop it, but it'll probably put me to sleep, too." He hadn't been looking anywhere in particular while speaking, but now, he looked Tommy directly in the eyes. All he saw was worry, mixed with the need to make everything feel normal. _Will I ever escape that look? _Chuckie asked himself, but he smiled at his friend.

"Here you go," said Kimi, entering the room and handing Chuckie a pill and a glass of water. He thanked her and downed the pill and water, wanting the pain to just go away already. Kimi took her place back on his bed.

"So, what was it like in the hospital?" Dil wanted to know. "Did they strap you to the bed and put tubes and stuff in your ears?"

"Dil-" Tommy began, but Chuckie cut him off, smiling. "No Tommy, it's okay." And he told his friends about his experience in the hospital, starting with the way the doctors had done tons of crazy tests ("For this one, they clipped my nose shut and I had to breathe in something made me really dizzy through a tube with a really big mouthpiece"), his favorite nurses ("Ellie always brought me candy along with my medicine"), and the weird things he heard people talking about when he couldn't sleep at night ("I got to hear all about Nurse Mary's cheating ex-husband").

Eventually, though, the pill kicked in, and it was getting harder and harder for him to stay awake. Kira, who knew this was going to happen, came upstairs and got the others to bid him goodnight. Angelica, who hadn't spoken all night, ruffled his hair and told him to feel better soon, since he was stealing her spotlight by making everyone worry about him. Susie apologized for her and told him to get plenty of rest and that she hoped to see him again soon. Tommy told Chuckie that he'd come over tomorrow so they could talk and then quickly ushered Dil, who was complaining about not getting to him with tubes in his nose, out of the room. Phil kind of awkwardly stood there with a small wave goodbye (he had sat all night trying to come up with something to say to his friend, but he had never been that great with heartfelt things, so he was quiet most of the night), as Lil fussed over Chuckie's pillows, determined to make him comfortable. Finally, Betty had to come up and grab her. Lil argued half-heartedly with her mom for a second, but then she turned and gave Chuckie a fast hug before running out of the room, yelling goodnight over her shoulder. Finally, it was just Chuckie and Kimi, alone in his room again.

Kimi saw that Chuckie was really tired by now, so she hugged him real quick, too, before saying goodnight. When she had left, turning off the light and closing the door behind her, Chuckie gave a tired sigh and hooked himself up to his oxygen machine, just like the nurse had shown him. _That went well_, he thought to himself, rolling over and getting under his blankets. It had been nice to see his friends, if a little awkward at times. He couldn't wait for them to come over again.

By now, his thoughts were swimming tiredly in his head. _I wonder why Kimi and Tommy seemed so close tonight? _was his last coherent thought before drifting off to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** First, I want to apologize for taking so long (almost TWO MONTHS!) to update. But hopefully, this extra long chapter will kind of make up for that? I hope so.

Also, when reading through my earlier chapters, I noticed that I've never actually specified when this is taking place, which becomes important in this chapter. The chapters up until now take place mid-November (hence the jackets). Which brings me to another point. I know that in AGU!, they hint at it taking place in California, so in the Christmas episode, there isn't any snow. But some episodes of the original Rugrats have snow- or hint at it, anyway. So, for my story, I'm going to say that they live in a town that it actually snows in.

I would again like to thank the people who have reviewed and/or encouraged me in some way, shape, or form to continue writing. It's because of you guys that this chapter is up.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Rugrats or AGU! All rights belong to Klasky-Csupo and Nickelodeon.**

* * *

Chapter 5

It was around noon the next day, and Chuckie was set up in the living room.

"Here," said his mother, coming back into the room with yet another blanket. "This should make you more comfortable." At that, Chuckie winced, having heard those same words about ten times just that morning. He grabbed the blanket from her as she tried to wrap it around him and set it on his lap instead.

"Thank you," he told her, with somewhat of an attitude, and Kira stood up straight, frowning slightly as she looked at him.

"What time did Tommy say he was coming over?" she asked, as the clock in the room chimed twelve.

"He should be here any minute," Chuckie told her, eager for the other boy to get here already so that he wouldn't have to be alone with her any longer (Chaz was at work, and Kimi had gone over to Lil's to catch up on the homework she had missed the week before so she could go back to school the next day), but it turned out he didn't have to wait long, as the doorbell rang just after he said it. Kira went to go let him in, and Tommy walked into the room a few seconds later, his arms full of video game cases.

"Hey," he said, smiling at the sight of his best friend lying on the couch. It was obvious that Kira had been catering to the boy. There were about five pillows surrounding Chuckie's head, propping him up. There was small fold-up table next to the couch, on top of which was an assortment of snack items, three bottles of iced tea, and a bottle of water. And Chuckie almost resembled an eskimo with the amount of blankets wrapped around him. Following Tommy's gaze, Chuckie groaned and threw them off of him.

"I don't understand why she thinks I need all of these!" he exclaimed in frustration, keeping his voice low in case she was close enough to hear. "Yes, it's cold outside, but she turned the furnace up, too!"

Laughing at his friend, Tommy sat down on the end of the couch. He set the cases down on the floor. "I didn't think your mom would let us go anywhere, so I brought some games. Better than just sitting around talking, right?" Chuckie nodded and smiled, grateful to Tommy for thinking of a distraction. The last thing he needed at this point was another person asking him how he felt when, honestly, he didn't even know. Scooting the table away, Chuckie sat down on the floor with his back to the couch as Tommy opened the cabinet under the TV, got the Xbox out, and started it up.

"What do you want to play?" asked Tommy, holding up a couple of games. Chuckie shrugged. "I don't care, as long as we play." Tommy shrugged and put a game in at random, handing Chuckie a controller.

They sat there and played for four hours, until Tommy finally got up and stretched out. "Sorry," he said, "but my parents wanted me back by four-thirty. Grandpa Lou and Grandma Lulu are coming over for supper." He smiled apologetically.

"No problem." said Chuckie, standing up to stretch as well and handing the controller back to Tommy, who began putting things away. "Guess this means I'll have to keep myself occupied until Kimi comes home." Tommy nodded, wrapping up the controller cords.

"Hey, when are you coming back to school? Will you be there tomorrow?" Tommy asked.

"Umm, no, not tomorrow." said Chuckie, biting his lip and sitting back down on the couch. "I have an appointment tomorrow."

"Another one? You just left the hospital yesterday, and they're making you go back tomorrow?"

"It's just like a check-in," said Chuckie. "They want to make sure I'm adjusting well to being back home. Apparantly, they can't be too careful. They'll also tell me when I can go back to school. I hope it's soon. I mean, I don't think I'm _that _bad yet." Tommy nodded again, closing the cabinet and gathering his games. Then he smiled.

"Never thought I'd see the day you actually _wanted _to go back to school."

Chuckie grinned, sheepishly. "Yeah, well...You're not the one who has to put up with her." He jabbed his thumb in the direction of the kitchen, where Kira could be heard getting ready to start supper, pots clanging against each other.

Tommy looked again at the accommodations she had made. "There is that." Looking at the clock, Tommy sighed. "I've got to go. Call me tomorrow?"

"Of course."

Tommy turned out of the room with a wave Chuckie heard the front door open and close. Through the window in the living room, Chuckie could see Tommy walking down the block to his house. He sighed, just as Kira came up behind him.

"Did you two have fun?" she asked, and Chuckie turned to face her. "Yeah. We just played video games."

Kira smiled and stepped closer, brushing his hair back. She then put her arms around him. "I bet it was a good distraction." Chuckie nodded and hugged her back. The two stayed like that for a couple of minutes, until they heard Kimi come through the door.

"Mom, I'm home!"

Kira smiled and squeezed her son once more before pushing him away. "Okay!" she called back. "Supper will be done in a couple of minutes. I'll call when it's ready!" "Alright." Kira looked him in the eye once more, smiling, before heading back to the kitchen.

Sighing, Chuckie turned back to the window. It was starting to get dark outside, and street lamps were flickering on up and down the block. Chuckie stared at the one across from his house, lost in thought. It seemed his family was getting more used to his condition. He was sure that three days ago his mother wouldn't even have been able to smile. What did it matter if it didn't quite reach her eyes? He would take sad smiles over tears any day.

So things were definitely getting better. Closing his eyes, Chuckie leaned his forehead on the glass.

_But where do we go from here? _he thought.

* * *

The next day at the hospital, Chuckie sat in the waiting room with his mother, waiting to be called. There were a few other people in the room- a coughing mother with a newborn baby in her arms, an elderly man in a wheelchair with a cast on his leg, a man in a suit who kept checking his watch- but it was quiet except for the TV that was showing some sort of talk show. Chuckie didn't bring anything to do, so he was rather bored as he sat next to Kira, who was flipping through a magazine.

The nurse came into the room and Chuckie looked up hopefully. "Kathy?" she called. The woman with the baby got up and headed towards the door as Chuckie sighed and slouched in his seat. Kira finished her magazine and set it aside. "So,"she said, turning to her son, "what do you think we'll hear today?" She sounded cheerful, but there was worry in her eyes.

_Well, whatever he says_, Chuckie thought, _it can't be worse than what he said last week. _Out loud, though, he said "I just hope I can go back to school soon."

Kira smiled. "That would be nice, wouldn't it? You'd be able to see your friends everyday again."

Chuckie nodded and a rather awkward silence fell between them. It was obvious that neither of them really knew what else to say. They sat there for a minute or two, and then Kira sighed and leaned back in her seat.

"It sure would be nice if we would get called soon." she said. "Your appointment was twenty minutes ago."

It was then that a flustered-looking and out of breath nurse came up to them.

"Finster?" she asked. They both nodded. "Sorry for the wait. Dr. Avery only just got in. If you would follow me. please." She led them down the hallway to his office and knocked on the door. There was a muffled answer and the nurse opened the door. "You can just go right in," she said, before she turned on her heel and took off down the hall. Chuckie looked at his mom and shrugged before entering the office.

"Ah, hello," said Dr. Avery, as they came in. He was standing at the back of his office, hanging up his jacket, and it was apparant that he had just arrived. "Please, have a seat." He told them, indicating the chairs in front of his desk. As they did, he closed the closet and walked around to the other side of his desk, running his hand through his hair as he did so. "Sorry about making you wait. Running a bit late this morning." He sat and pulled Chuckie's file toward him and scanned the pages.

"Right. Okay, so, you left on Saturday. I haven't received any phone calls, so I take it there haven't been any real concerns since then?"

"No, things have pretty much gone as you said they would." said Kira. "We've had him relax and we've been keeping a close eye on him."

The doctor nodded. "And what about the pain?" he asked.

"It only seems to bother him at night." he said. "But the pills you gave him have been taking care of it."

"Good," Dr. Avery nodded again. "However, I don't know how long that will last. I'll need you to call me if the pain starts coming during the day and we'll figure something out."

Kira nodded, and then said, "He's also been wondering about school. Is there anyway he can go back soon?"

Dr. Avery hesitated. "That...should be fine." he said slowly. "As long as the pain isn't too bad and he doesn't push himself too much, there shouldn't be a problem. Just to make sure though," he said, opening a drawer and pulling out a prescription pad, "I'm going to give him something to take in the morning before school that should lessen the pain should it happen to act up while he's at school." He scribbled something on the pad while Kira watched intently. Chuckie felt rather ignored and hadn't failed to notice that they had been talking as if he wasn't even there. It wasn't until the doctor asked if there was anything else that he spoke up.

"Umm, actually, I was wondering if I could talk you about something. Alone," he added, shooting a glance at his mother.

Dr. Avery looked surprised and looked at Kira as well. "It's up to you." he told her. She gave Chuckie a confused look, but finally agreed.

"Call me back in when you're done," she said, after she had made her way to the door. Giving the two of them a concerned look, she closed the door behind her.

Quiet filled the room after she left, and Dr. Avery looked expectantly at Chuckie, who was suddenly finding it rather difficult to breathe. Though this time, it had nothing to do with his condition and everything to do with what he wanted to ask. But his voice wasn't working. Even though Chuckie had been rehearsing in his head exactly what he wanted to ask the whole morning, when faced with the actual moment, he froze.

Dr. Avery seemed to realized what was going on, though, and he quickly proceeded to open and pretend to look through the boy's file, breaking eye contact with him. That seemed to be just what Chuckie needed- he felt his brain slowly unfreeze and remembered what he was going to say. He cleared his throat.

"Um, sir?"

The doctor looked up from the file.

"I was just...just wondering if you could tell me...I was wondering if you knew..." The words kept getting stuck in his throat, and Chuckie was worried. This would be his only chance to talk to the doctor alone.

"I want you to tell me how long I have left!" He finally blurted out.

Dr. Avery had been expecting this. After the initial shock of finding out you're dying, almost everyone wants to know that same thing. Although, the doctor was a little suprised. It had only been a week since the boy had found out. But, knowing this would come eventually, Dr. Avery already had an answer to give. An answer that he was going to hate giving.

Looking at the boy sitting across from him- the wild red hair, the style of someone who obviously didn't care about trends, the mixed look of hope and apprehension in his eyes- and knew that this boy deserved the respect of being given a straight forward, non-sugarcoated response. But before that, there was one thing Chuckie needed to understand.

Leaning forward on his elbows, his hands clasped in front of him on the desk, Dr. Avery looked Chuckie straight in the eyes and spoke.

"Chuckie, I need to start by saying that although I've tried to get as accurate as I can, this is still nothing more than an educated guess. I have seen patients who, given a year to live, have survived more than a decade. However, I've also seen it go the other way." He paused, needing the boy to understand this. "What I'm trying to say is that I've seen many things that I can't explain. And when it comes to you, the same thing might happen." He hoped it would. But he could tell that Chuckie just wanted to find out the answer to his question. The doctor sighed, and continued once more.

"From your results," he hated himself for having to say this, "you likely have about seven months to live."

Chuckie sat in his chair, a buzzing in his ears. He had gone completely still.

"S-seven months?" he repeated. And he saw the doctor nod.

* * *

In the car on the way home, Kira was still trying to find out just what had been said in that office. Because whatever it was, it had visibly affected Chuckie. He had been pale and shaky when she'd burst into the room, unable to sit and wait anymore. But he was still lying to her.

"I told you," he said for about the sixth time, "we talked about my birth mom. I wanted to know what she went through." His voice was cracking and there was a sheen of sweat on his lip. She wondered who he thought he was fooling. But she decided to play along.

"Why did you want to know about that? Your situations are a bit different."

"Not by much." he argued. "And...I wanted to hear about what she was like from someone who isn't dad." This was actually true; he did want to hear someone else's perspective on Melinda. Chaz always got choked up when he was talking, eventually just changing the subject when it got too hard for him to speak.

Kira nodded, realizing that even if he was lying about the conversation, talking about his mom still wasn't easy. She knew that he felt especially weird talking to _her_ about it. So, she decided to drop the subject.

For now.

* * *

Angelica was in the middle of her second-to-last class of the day, which happened to be English class, when she got the text.

Not that that was weird. She was always texting her friends in school. But, she didn't usually text Chuckie.

_Hey, if you see Tommy today, can you tell him to come over to my house after school? I really need to talk to him. _

_-Chuckie_

Her first thought was 'Since when am I a carrier pigeon?'. But she also knew that if it must be pretty important if he was messaging _her. _They didn't exactly talk much, and he could just as easily have texted Kimi the same thing. She was confused and decided to call and make sure everything was alright.

She put her phone into her pocket and signed out to use the restroom. Once there, she dialed Chuckies' cell.

"Hello?"

"Chuckie?"

"Angelica?!" He sounded surprised. "I'm sorry, I wouldn't have texted you, it's just, Tommy doesn't have a phone and-"

"Yeah, whatever, I'll tell him." She interrupted. "I'm calling to make sure you're okay."

"What?"

"Why do you need to talk to Tommy so bad? Is everything alright?"

"Y-yeah. Everything's fine, I just want to talk to Tommy." He sounded anxious.

"Okay, then why not just text Kimi to talk to him? She sees him more than I do."

"Y-yeah, I guess..." He trailed off. Angelica decided to drop it.

"Look, it's fine, okay? I just wanted to make sure you're alright. You sound pretty freaked out, but obviously I'm not the one you want to talk to right now. So I'll just hang up and tell Tommy to meet you, then."

On the other side of the phone, Chuckie was shocked. She seemed genuinely concerned about him. A little annoyed at the moment, but genuinely concerned.

"Thanks." He told her.

"Whatever," she said, clearly wanting to hang up.

"No, that's not what I meant." He tried again. "Thanks for talking to Tommy for me, but I also...Thanks for asking. You're right, I am kinda freaked out right now."

"Do you want to talk?" Angelica asked, leaning against a sink. Finally, they were getting somewhere.

"Umm, not now. It's not that I don't want to!" He exclaimed, like he thought she was going to yell at him. "It's just, I...wouldn't know what to say."

Angelica nodded, understanding. "You're confused and need to talk to Tommy first. I get it." Her cousin did have the strange ability to calm people down and help them think straight. The past year, and she hated to admit this, he was actually one of the only people she herself could talk to, other than Susie. So she knew exactly what Chuckie was talking about.

"I get it. And I'll tell him it's important, okay? But, when you do figure things out...I mean..." Ugh, this was frustrating. It didn't matter how worried she was about the boy, she still wasn't used to being nice to him. "Just...You know you can call me, right? I know I'm not the first person that comes to mind when you feel like talking. But it's not like we're strangers. I've known you your whole life. And if you need to talk, I can listen. I can even promise to not say anything, and you know how difficult that would be for me." She sighed, and her voice was soft when she spoke again. "It's just that I worry about you too, you know? You may be annoying" she smiled, "but you're like family. I hate thinking about you being sick."

Chuckie was both touched and a little frightened. This was so completely not like Angelica _at all._ "Uhh, Angelica?" he asked. "You sure _you're_ okay?"

"Oh, shut up!" Angelica retorted, and she laughed. She also remembered that she had a class to get back to. "You know what I meant. But if that's it, then I have to go, or O'Keats will make me read something in front of the class as punishment for being late. Just remember what I said, okay?"

"I will. Thanks Angelica."

"Don't mention it, Finster. Please," she added, before muttering goodbye and hanging up. Shaking her head at what had just happened-she had only meant to ask if he was okay! Not get all sappy. - she headed back to class, hoping she wasn't late.

In his room, Chuckie smiled and shook his head. He never thought he'd see the day where Angelica would be that nice. It just made him wonder how much weirder life was going to get in the time he had left.

* * *

Tommy stood on the doorstep of the Finster household, having gotten here as soon as he could after school, and rang the doorbell. A few seconds later, Chaz stood opened the door.

"Tommy? What brings you here?" asked the older man, who hadn't been expecting anyone.

"Chuckie asked me to come over," Tommy told him. Chaz looked suprised at this answer, but let Tommy in all the same.

"No Kira today?" Tommy asked, stepping inside and taking his jacket off.

"Nope, she's at the Java Lava. We've been taking turns- one goes to work while the other stays home with Chuckie." Chaz took Tommys' jacket from him and hung it up in the closet.

"Sounds good. Is he in his room?" Tommy asked, anxious to see his friend. From what Angelica said, Chuckie was acting a little weird, and Tommy was pretty sure it had something to do with him going to the doctor that morning. But he had no idea what could've been said.

"Yeah, and apparantly he's been in there most of the day." Chaz said. Tommy thanked him and rushed up the stairs. The door was open, so he leaned in the doorway and knocked once on the frame.

Chuckie, who was sitting on the floor with his back against the bed, looked up and smiled as Tommy entered the room, shut the door, and sat on the floor as well, facing Chuckie with his back against the wall.

"Hey, C!" Tommy said.

"Hey," Chuckie responded, but there was a lack of enthusiasm in his voice. Instead, he seemed nervous. Tommy noticed the way he kept tapping on the floor with his fingers, and also the way he hadn't really looked at Tommy when speaking.

"Everything all right?" Tommy asked, concerned.

Chuckie didn't respond.

"Did something happen at your appointment?" he asked quietly. This time, Chuckie nodded and sighed.

"Well...what happened?" Tommy prodded. He realized that Chuckie was having a hard time spitting it out, but Tommy wasn't a mind reader. He couldn't help if he wasn't told what had happened.

"I...did something I probably shouldn't have." said Chuckie. "Asked a question I really didn't want to know the answer to."

Tommy had a bad feeling he knew what had been asked, but he said "What did you ask?" anyway.

"I-I asked the doctor to tell me..." Chuckie swallowed and tried again. "I wanted to know how long I have left."

Tommy felt his stomach drop. "Chuckie..." he whispered.

Chuckie closed his eyes. "H-he told me," he whispered, voice shaky, "that I only have seven months left."

Silence filled the room, and Chuckie opened his eyes to see his best friend frozen in his place, staring at the floor.

After a few minutes, Tommy cleared his throat. "And, how do you feel about that?" he asked, still not at Chuckie.

"I...don't know." Chuckie admitted. "I was hoping you could help me with that."

"Chuckie," said Tommy, shaking his head, "I can't tell you how to feel."

"No, I know that" said Chuckie, flushing as he realized how dumb that had sounded. "I just meant that...Well I thought maybe you could, I dunno, talk me through it, or something."

Tommy nodded and slowly raised his eyes to meet Chuckie's, but he still didn't say anything. Then, Chuckie took a deep breath.

"I guess I've just been confused the last couple of days. I don't know how I'm supposed to act. I mean, there isn't exactly an instruction manual for this kind of thing." He smiled and looked down at his knees before continuing. "I've basically been trying to convince everyone that I'm okay, but I don't think that's been going so well."

This time, Tommy smiled. "You never have been great at acting." he said.

"Nope," Chuckie laughed quietly. "But I don't want to act forever. I've only really been able to talk to Kimi since this whole thing started, but she isn't exactly made of stone. She isn't doing so well, either. I mean, she tries to make me think so, but-"

"She isn't very convincing," Tommy finished. "More than you, though." Chuckie nodded, thinking about how to word things. Finally, he sighed.

"Basically, this isn't easy for anyone, but there isn't anything I can do about it. I don't know where to go from here."

"And you were hoping I could help you." said Tommy. Chuckie nodded, and Tommy sat for a few seconds, then adjusted himself, bringing his knees to his chest. "I guess, if I were you," he began, "I would try to stop worrying about how to make things easier for now. If it were me, I would think about how to make it easier for them after I was...gone." He choked out. He could feel Chuckie's eyes on him, but he couldn't bring himself to meet the other boys' gaze. He sighed and continued, determined to get this next part out because he knew it would be exactly what Chuckie needed to hear. "If it were me, I would think about how I wanted to be remembered. I would think about d-dying..." He was close to tears now, he could feel it, but he shook his head and continued anyway. "I would think about dying in a respectable way. I would think about making sure everyone knew how I felt before I went, so that I wouldn't have any regrets. If it were me, I would be using every last moment I have."

He stopped, finished now, and raised his head, seeing how his words had affected Chuckie. The redhead was deep in thought, staring at the pattern on his pajamas. Tommy's words hung between them, and Tommy felt more awkward with every passing second, tears still burning at the back of his throat. He took deep breaths to try to calm himself, and the feeling had almost become bearable when Chuckie looked up and met Tommy's eyes. He slowly nodded and smiled at his friend, a new resolve burning in his eyes.

"Okay" he said. Tommy gave him a questioning look. "I know what to do now. I know how to do this. I-I think," he ducked his head back down for a moment, unsure. But his uncertainty was short-lived and he lifted his head almost immediately. "Thank you, Tommy." He said, beaming at his friend.

"N-no problem," Tommy replied, uncomfortable with the sudden change in his friend. He went to stand, thinking maybe that would ease the tension a little, but Chuckie wasn't done speaking yet.

"I know how I want to be remembered, Tommy. I've been such a-a...a _Chuckie_ my whole life," he said. "I don't want to be remembered like that. I want to be remembered as the guy who stood up and did things, instead of shying away from them. I want to be remembered as the guy that was easy to talk to, not the nerdy kid in the back of the class that no one talked to because of his fashion sense and wheezing problem. I want," he stopped and thought for a second, not noticing how hard it was for Tommy to breathe at this point. "I want to be the best friend anyone ever had." he said. "I don't want to be a Chuckie forever. I want to be someone that other people look up to. Thank you, Tommy." he said again.

But Tommy could no longer stay in that room. He sprang up, startling Chuckie.

"Tommy?"

"I forgot, I have to do the dishes before supper," he said, throwing out a lame excuse. "Sorry, but I have to go." He left without a word, knowing that Chuckie was really confused- probably upset with him, too. He didn't care, though, as he ran downstairs and through the house, ignoring Chaz's call goodbye. He opened the closet, yanked his jacket off of the hanger, and ran through the door and all the way to his house down the block, not stopping until he had made it to his bedroom.

He collapsed on his bed, face first into his pillow, his mind replaying the conversation he had had with Chuckie.

_I want to be remembered...the guy who did things...easy to talk to...Best friend anyone ever had..._

The tears that had threatened to overcome him were finally let loose, wetting his pillow.

_But you already ARE those things_, he thought. _What does it matter that you're a Chuckie, if it means that you're the best friend I've ever had?  
_

* * *

**A/N: 7-17-2013 **So, I know I haven't posted in a long time. I haven't given any reasons either, which I'm sorry about. But, if you have any desire to learn my reasons behind my long absence, please visit my profile. My reasons, however important I deem them to be, might come across as excuses, and for that, I am sorry. Long story short, life happens. And sometimes writing takes a backseat. Again, visit my profile for a longer explanation. Thanks for reading my story and for leaving such good reviews. It means a lot.


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